Simarjeet's five-wicket haul seals DPL 2025 final berth for Central Delhi Kings

The Qualifier 1 of the second edition of Delhi Premier League between Central Delhi Kings and East Delhi Riders got off to a delayed start due to wet outfield caused by the morning rain. The clouds were hovering over the Arun Jaitley Stadium which caused a threat to the game all along. It finally started, reduced to 15 overs a side.

Central Delhi won the toss and chose to bowl and they did that splendidly, dismissing the Riders for just 90 runs. Money Grewal once again justified his importance by bowling two back-to-back maiden overs at the start on his way to picking a wicket and wearing the Purple Cap.

To accompany him was the most expensive buy at the auction in Simarjeet Singh and he repaid the faith of the owners in him by giving in a Man-of-the-Match performance with a five-for. They gave hardly any space to breath to the Riders’ batsmen who did not have any answers to the ruthless bowling by the opening duo who accounted for seven wickets. Sujal Singh tried his best to occupy the crease and put something on the board but he too departed after scoring a hard fought 39 off 25 balls, being the lone warrior. They were bundled out for 90 on the last ball of the last over.

Chasing a small target can give some nerves and be tricky at times and it looked just that at the start when Central Delhi Kings lost three quick wickets in the revised powerplay. Just when it looked like Riders’ bowlers too might have a day out, Jonty Sidhu and Aditya Bhandari came together and negated whatever threat the bowlers posed. They hit three sixes each. Jonty Sidhu lost his wicket but he had done his job of getting his team to a secure position and they chased down the target in 11.3 overs.

With a clinical bowling performance, Central Delhi Kings secured their place in the final whereas East Delhi have another lifeline tomorrow (Saturday) against the winners of the Eliminator.

When asked about the match, Anuj Rawat (Captain of East Delhi) showed great faith in his team despite couple of back-to-back losses to the same team.

Man-of-the-Match Simarjeet Singh said that it is quite enjoyable to bowl with his fellow bowlers and they complement each other in different situations.

Brief Scores

East Delhi 90 all out in 14.5 overs (Sujal Singh 39 off 25 balls, Anuj Rawat 23 off 26 balls, Simarjeet Singh 5/23, Money Grewal 2/7) lost to Central Delhi Kings 92/4 in 11.3 overs (Aditya Bhandari 33 not out, Jonty Sidhu 26, Rohan Rathi-1/4, Ashish Meena 1/9)

Tags : Simarjeet Singh, Money Grewal, Central Delhi Kings, DPL 2025, Arun Jaitley Stadium